Have you ever seen a movie that left you thinking 15 to 20 minutes were missing? That was my exact reaction after seeing Sofia Coppola’s latest film “Priscilla” (2023).
I saw the film twice on two separate occasions. Both times, I still felt like “Priscilla” was a glass of water half full. “Priscilla” tells the true story of how Priscilla Beaulieu met, married and eventually left Elvis Presley and their life together as husband and wife.
What kept me in this film was by far the outstanding performances from Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. I loved seeing these two actors perform with each other. Neither of them looks like the real Elvis and Priscilla, but they sure do feel like the real Elvis and Priscilla. That’s the definition of great acting.
Spaeny is small, but her performance as Priscilla is quite large. For most of the film, she is quiet and reserved, which makes sense because she went from being a regular schoolgirl to being Elvis Presley’s wife. That is quite the turnaround. Can you imagine what the real Priscilla was feeling when her first kiss was Elvis freaking Presley? It’s insane when you think about it, and Spaeny captures that feeling incredibly.
What I admire most about Spaeny’s performance is how natural she is. At the beginning of the film, Priscilla is both confused and overwhelmed when she is asked to attend Elvis’ party.
As the film progresses, Priscilla is provided with such a lavish life that it is almost too much for her to take in. This lifestyle even manages to completely change Priscilla’s appearance. At that point, she isn’t Priscilla Beaulieu anymore, she is the wife of Elvis Presley. This identity crisis has a negative effect on Priscilla, as she understands she isn’t being her true self. Priscilla then gradually starts to go back to her old self and even looks like the Priscilla before Elvis. She knows that Elvis and his lifestyle aren’t for her.
Throughout all of this, nothing of Spaeny’s performance feels forced or phony. She acts exactly how the audience would envision someone experiencing a rags-to-riches story. Spaeny is spectacular in the film and deserves more recognition.
It is hard not to compare Elordi’s Elvis to Austin Butler’s portrayal of the pop culture icon in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” (2022). Elordi’s Elvis feels a lot more natural and personal in contrast to Butler’s more exaggerated version. Different films, different styles.
With Elvis is portrayed in “Priscilla,” it is clear that Coppola and the screenwriters were not afraid to show Elvis’ dark side. There are a handful of times in the film where the audience is shown that Elvis was not always a good person or a good husband. For example, we see him physically abuse Priscilla during a seemingly playful pillow fight.
The scene begins nice and cuddly but soon turns shocking and disturbing when Elvis violently hits Priscilla with a pillow. According to “Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock ‘N' Roll,” the 1985 memoir written by the real Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, the couple would occasionally have competitions with each other. Pillow fights were one of those competitions.
During one of their pillow fights, Priscilla started throwing pillows at Elvis until one eventually hit him in the face. Elvis’ eyes “flashed with anger” and he yelled at Priscilla and said, “Godd--- it! Not so rough. I don’t want to play with a godd--- man.” Then, things got worse. Priscilla claimed that Elvis hit her on purpose, which he then denied.
This left the real Priscilla in an uneasy state of not knowing whether her husband would snap like that again. I believe the film flawlessly executes the uneasiness because it only takes one little match to light a bomb. Elordi shows a nice balance between the handsome, rockstar, celebrity Elvis that everyone knows and loves and the Elvis that isn’t talked about enough. In short, Elordi is fantastic. I left this film looking forward to what Elordi will do next in his acting career.
I have not seen any other of Coppola’s films, but I can tell just by watching “Priscilla” that she is a talented filmmaker. My two favorite technical aspects of the production are the cinematography and the soundtrack.
At first, I was unsure about the cinematography in the beginning. It looked too dark and a little flat in some instances. However, as the film went on, the cinematography drastically increased in terms of quality. My analysis is that Coppola may have used this to demonstrate how boring and lifeless Priscilla’s life was before she met Elvis.
When she does meet him, her life goes from drab and uneventful to colorful and exciting. It is a simple, but extremely effective strategy to use in a motion picture.
The soundtrack is a masterclass of songs from that time period. The best example of music used in the film is when it is used during a montage. My personal favorite would be a montage of Priscilla and Elvis having fun with each other while the song “Forever” by The Little Dippers plays. It’s a well-directed scene that resonated with me in a lot of ways.
What “Priscilla” needed was more time to flesh out the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis. Not only that, but it also needed to dedicate more time to Priscilla’s life after she left Elvis.
There are a handful of scenes in the film where the audience is treated to seeing Elvis abuse Priscilla in some way and the scene right after would be completely different in tone. This is kind of jarring because of how extremely different those back-to-back scenes are.
The film would have benefited from an additional 30 minutes of runtime. That way, more time can be devoted to fleshing out the history between Priscilla and Elvis and what her life was like after she left Elvis. The film is titled “Priscilla” after all — she should have more time to shine. The film has a relatively consistent pace, but when the end credits started rolling I wanted more.
Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” is a delightful film that never bored me or left me disappointed. Fans of Coppola’s previous films and admirers of one of America’s first iconic couples will find enjoyment in it.
Rating: 4/5
